


Rules For Lovers

by doctor_could



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dance, Ballet, Ballet Dancer Sherlock, Dancer John, M/M, bad choreography
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 14:24:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9275954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctor_could/pseuds/doctor_could
Summary: Just a short dance mini fic because I can't help myself any longer





	

When John Watson hears the first drum beat of their chosen song, his eyes flash open. He can almost feel his eyes dilate to the stage lights he’s barely avoiding to look directly into. By the second beat, he knows his partner has taken one step onto the stage. He is now sharing his space with the one he loves. The music continues to flow in between the bass drum’s beat. The fourth beat, John bounces on his heals. He can feel the heat of his partner behind him, right on time to wrap their arm around his waist on the final beat before they hear the word ‘Hello.’

The first thing John sees is a broad chest, already heaving. His view is like molasses to his mind has he slides his eyes up the bare chest to the pulse in a pale, pale neck. Finally, there are eyes with irises clear as a prism from the stage lights. The emotion in them is prominent. John can feel the way they hunger for more touch right when the count hits seven again and they push on each other’s shoulders at ‘so long.’ Then it’s a sharp pivot turn on goodnight for the taller of the two as John rushes forward for the man across the stage. A leap placed expertly on ‘the size,’ making him seem taller than he was.

When grabbed on ‘of lies,’ on the hips firmly and trusting, Sherlock Holmes does two fan kicks around them, turning them in the opposite direction in time with the lyrics to match perfectly. Keeping the flow going, John covers Sherlock’s mouth in a quick beat as if keeping him from not screwing things up with that big brain of his. John knew how fast his partner’s brain went and how absolutely brilliant he was. When he wasn’t being a complete cock. 

Sherlock went straight into the choreographed fight against the restraint. He didn’t want to be unheard. He couldn’t leave anything unsaid. Bare feet landed gracefully onto the wood of the stage, slightly creaking from how many years this stage had been used for the same action. 

The pair switched spots for the chorus. Sherlock helped John prepare for the upcoming assisted turns he was about to perform. John pushed off into a triple pirouette with his right hand delicately placed on his waist, and his left hand was being held above his head in a perfect arc by the one he trusted most. Once he landed his turn, John takes Sherlock’s hand and pulls it to his mouth for a kiss, making sure it landed on ‘lovers.’ Then, the two moved next to each other and went into two synced seconds. On the stretched out ‘find,’ they wanted to surprise the audience. So John goes to his knee as a lunge at the end of his turns, arms reaching for Sherlock and John’s grinning when he grabs them. Slowly and with practiced control, Sherlock bends forward towards John with his leg going straight behind him. He creates a straight line from his turned out foot on the floor to the foot pointed to the heavens above them. Their faces are so close that their noses touch, their puffing breaths mixing between them. The surprise was the kiss they share before moving on to the next verse.

John stands as Sherlock puts his leg back down into third position. His heel easily fit into the curve of his left foot. He’s then pulled into a tight embrace to the beat of ‘we trust.’ He lets John push him away again because he knows this is the most depressing part of their piece.

There is a one lap chase around the stage; Sherlock is chasing John. Then Holmes falls to his knees on ‘hurt,’ and in a contagion, John falls too on ‘bruise.’ He stays in his spot as Sherlock stands, taking two long strides to reach his partner in time with ‘hand’ and ‘heart.’ He offers his hand. John is back on his feet by the time Richard Walters sings ‘start.’

The beats are about to pick up, but the two want to take their time before the main climax of their piece. John turns Sherlock around and grabs his waist again. His partner is right on time too by placing trusting hands on top of his. Another paired jump is placed onto ‘lovers.’ They choreographed Sherlock to leap across the stage. It showed off his long legs and the hours and hours of technique he placed into getting his feet to point hard enough. This made them an extension of his already endless legs.

It was easy to keep track of. Down on ‘like’ and face John on ‘I.’ Sherlock could see his partner again. It made his chest swell with the knowledge of the word’s double meaning. Step back. Choose. Step back and a ball change. Each other. Quickly now. Feet together and bounce on releve when the drums pick up pace. Here’s the end. Hold onto the stamina.

Six, seven, eight. They grab each other’s forearms at the same moment. Not from the many hours of practice, but from knowing their partner. John is now facing upstage, with Sherlock to the audience. They form almost a body roll from their connected arms. Sky. They kick their legs to their ears in sync. Their feet slide to a standstill at night. Sherlock reaches out, representing the darkness that comes with their relationship. He’s also in black tights, fitting for ‘black.’ John mirrors him with ‘white,’ then immediately goes into pushing Sherlock and pulling him back.

As the prince he is, Sherlock turns while letting go of John’s arm. It was a quick soutenu, but he’s also a fool. John has left his side to center stage, participating in his own solo of lightning fast seconds and fouettes. He pirouettes out of them to face the front with Sherlock at his side once more. They are once again together. The do a fan kick to the right then one to the left. It was originally to mock the ‘sunrise, sunset,’ but placed with ‘day’ and ‘night.’

The pair follow their kicks with a two count pause then look at each other for two more counts. They follow that with a dancer’s run to the edge of the stage. As soon as they stop the drums have picked up to their final pace. They run backwards away from each other. Once they hear ‘we choose,’ they’re in a chassé and leaping past each other. Sherlock goes into a controlled and slow leg tilt on ‘find’ as John shows off his multiple rotations coupe turn. They finish by facing each other and go into axel turns going opposite directions. Sherlock meets his partner center stage where they both do a press leap with their back legs bending back to their heads as they arch their backs to meet their toes in the middle.

Who does decide? Sherlock lets his mind wander as he lets his muscle memory take over. Nothing can stop them from achieving greatness when they’re together. As the steps get closer together and faster with the overlapping music, Sherlock’s heart speeds up too. Overwhelmed from the way he feels for John and the way the music makes him feel. When he’s with John, he feels like there are no rules, like he could do flawless turns all day, everyday. They could create their own genre of dance that only they could perform. Sherlock can’t doubt the way being on stage makes him feel anyway, but with John. Nothing is impossible.

He feels himself going into a tour jeté at the beginning of the end and the beats fade away to just the sound of Richard. John is breathing as hard as he is. Neither of them can hide a smile as they walk towards each other and hold onto the forearms again. The two pace in a circle around each other until the second to last ‘find’ plays. That’s when Sherlock twirls John into his arms in a few slow turns. They take their last step towards each other and on that final ‘find,’ they place their foreheads together. John can feel Sherlock’s breath on his lips and in that moment, John had never felt more alive.

**Author's Note:**

> This was based on the song The Rules For Lovers by Richard Walters


End file.
